The New York Times article in the second link above says over 93 percent of consumers served with a credit-card-debt summons do not respond to defend themselves against the lawsuit. The credit card banks and the junk debt buyers of credit card debt know that statistic all too well. They have flooded the courts nationwide with improperly documented credit-card-debt lawsuits to speed up the collection process and to save time and money.

The tide is, however, turning. In addition to the California Attorney General, the Minnesota Attorney General successfully sued Midland Funding, one of the nation’s largest junk debt buyers, for improper “robo-signed” credit-card-debt affidavits. The state of Maryland has passed a law requiring documentation before a credit card debt lawsuit can be filed. Other states are likely to follow suit in order to relieve the pressure on their local courts.

What happens after a collection attorney receives your written demand for documentation of the credit card debt they allege you owe is silence or a delay?

If you have sent a properly worded debt-disputing/document demanding answer to a collection attorney’s mini-Miranda or summons, or if you have appeared in court to initially dispute their charges, there is a delay. They must prove you owe the debt, and they cannot do that. So, they let the clock tick away to the next court date for your case. They hope you will get cold feet and try to settle. They hope you will admit to the debt.

Why can’t collection attorneys prove you owe a credit card debt? That has to do with the way credit card companies handle their credit card computer systems. Yes, they can provide copies of a few monthly statements, or a copy of a generic credit card agreement, or even a copy of a signed credit card application.

In data centers that process hundreds of thousands of accounts, no one has personal knowledge of any one account.

As soon as you demand a full accounting of interest, charges, payments and fees as proof of how they arrived at the amount they allege you owe accompanied by an affidavit from someone with personal knowledge of your account, the jig is up. That full accounting will not be forthcoming, and you will no longer fear a credit card lawsuit.